International SETI launches new detection scale
SETI League Press Release

A new scale designed to give the public an expert view of any claimed detection of extraterrestrial intelligence has been launched by the International Academy of Astronautics’ Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Permanent Study Group at the World Space Congress in Houston. The Rio Scale was initiated by Drs. Ivan Almar of Hungary and Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute in California to give the media and the public an idea of the credibility and importance – as determined by a panel of SETI scientists – of any claim that intelligence elsewhere in the universe has been detected.